UCLA Center for the Study of Women

Every December, U.S. News and World Report publishes a list of “50 Ways to Improve your Life” for the coming year. In the December 19th issue of 2004, one of the recommendations in the “Get Well” section that dealt with ways to improve your health was to “Get Married.” Indeed, across a number of epidemiological surveys, married individuals report greater happiness and life satisfaction, and have a lower risk of clinical depression than their unmarried counterparts. In addition to these benefits, marriage has benefits for physical health. However, marriages characterized by low marital satisfaction and high conflict have damaging effects on physical health, and the effect of poor marital quality on health may differ between men and women.